Courts To Rent Space To Conduct Trials

The Du Page County courts will rent emergency courtroom space in a downtown Wheaton building that the county agreed to sell to National-Louis University last year, it was announced Tuesday.

The court`s Law Division hasn`t been able to hold any trials on high dollar amount damage and injury cases since Sept. 21, when the new courthouse on County Farm Road in Wheaton was closed because of air quality problems.

But under the arrangement being worked out with university officials, that division will get two courtrooms for jury trials, while the Domestic Relations Division will get three courtrooms in the building formerly known as the Win Knoch Annex, at 209 Liberty St. The building is located a few minutes from the old courthouse, which the county has also agreed to sell to National- Louis.

The five Law Division judges who hear cases involving dollar amounts of $15,000 or more have shared quarters with the court`s Mandatory Arbitration Program in the Du Page County Bar Association building, 126 S. County Farm Rd., Wheaton, since their official home at 505 N. County Farm Rd., was closed for an overhaul of its ventilation system.

``Law has been the division most severely affected by the closing of the courthouse,`` court administrator Robert Fiscella said Tuesday. ``The judges have been sharing quarters with the arbitration program, and they`ve heard motions and pretrial conferences but no trials.``

He said two rooms in the former Win Knoch annex are being arranged to hear jury trials, even though the space will be cramped. He said three other rooms in the building will be taken over by Domestic Relations judges who now occupy two rooms on the second floor of the county Administration Building, 421 N. County Farm Rd. However, one of those rooms must be vacated by the end of this year to make room for the traffic court, which is being evicted from space it has used for many years in Wheaton City Hall.

Although the Liberty Street courtrooms are ready for almost immediate occupancy, officials said it is doubtful any trials will begin until next week because of the difficulty of bringing lawyers, witnesses and evidence together on short notice.

``The Law Division staff is currently calling litigants to find out if anybody`s ready for trial,`` Fiscella said.